RCB will have four obvious choices in the overseas department.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) didn’t make many changes from the victorious 2025 side. The RCB playing XI will be similar to last season. The IPL 2026 squad, more or less, looks the same, and rightly so.
However, concerns remain for the defending champions ahead of the season opener. Josh Hazlewood’s injury will keep them worried after he missed the T20 World Cup 2026, while Rajat Patidar and Venkatesh Iyer have been out of form. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli hasn’t played the format for a while, whereas Jitesh Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were underwhelming in the DY Patil T20 Cup.
The RCB playing XI has a few tricky questions in overseas players’ selection. Here are four probable foreign stars likely to feature.
Phil Salt’s spot looks secured at the moment, even if Jacob Bethell has been pressing his case with strong performances. Salt was one of the biggest reasons behind RCB’s title-winning run in IPL 2025, where he accumulated 403 runs at an average of 33.58 and a strike rate of 175.98 in 11 innings. This included four fifties.
He has recently developed issues against spinners, but those weaknesses might not be exposed much in flat conditions that are mostly on offer in IPL. Salt remains an attacking batter who can whack pace and manage spin in the powerplay. Hence, he should start, even if Jacob Bethell brings higher skills against spin and some bowling value as an addition.
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Among the finest T20 batters in world cricket at the moment, Tim David is a sure starter in the RCB playing XI for IPL 2026. He is a brutal player of pace and has improved massively against spinners. The hard-hitter played a new role in the upper middle order for Australia and excelled, which suggested his ability to remain valuable.
RCB will not need him in the upper middle order, but his batting role might be a bit extended now that he has proven his credentials in a new position. There are chances of him getting promoted ahead of Jitesh Sharma, who will be restricted to keep pacers in the opponent’s camp on their toes. The good part is that Tim David can be flexible with his batting position, and few can boast of doing what he does with the willow.
Romario Shepherd will be RCB’s pace-bowling all-rounder to complement spin-bowling all-rounder Krunal Pandya. Shepherd will bat in the lower order, where his job will be to provide batting depth and hit pace in slog overs. Last season, he had a strike rate of 304.04 and a balls-per-boundary ratio of 1.91 in the final four overs.
With the ball, the Caribbean all-rounder can bowl in the middle overs, with the ability to bowl hard lengths and mix them up with slower deliveries. He brings a wicket-taking knack and understands how to construct his overs, as visible at the T20 World Cup 2026. With Liam Livingstone no longer part of the franchise, Shepherd will provide the balance and depth in both departments.
This remains a tricky part for RCB. While Hazlewood is expected to be fit in time for IPL 2026, concerns continue around his sustainability and rhythm after such a long layoff. His most recent competitive outing came in November last year.
He will look to regain full fitness soon, and if available, will definitely feature in the RCB playing XI. Hazlewood remains their best bowler, with immense ability across phases. He will bowl all the tough overs and ease the workload of other pacers in the team.
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